Wordless Wednesdays: A Little Outside

We've been spending an awful-lot of time outside as of late (hence, I haven't been posting all that much...). Here are a few peeks into what I see everyday : )

If you haven't, go check out Life: by Nikola; a photo-blog of my wonderous son!

Share a link to your WW post in the comments or on the FaceBook!

Moj Sladak Dječak

We are working on our multilingualism. Here are some adorable pictures with captions in Croatian, native language to my maternal family and the first language I technically learned (although much is forgotten and my current lingual skills rival Niko's).

Prženica!

Kruška!

Ja sam tako sladak!

Thirsties Update

We've been using Thirsties since Thursday. So far, so good! I even just ordered a third diaper wrap cover (with my rewards points from Amazon) in Ocean Blue. Now we'll just need a red one to complete the rainbow!

I'm reasonably happy with the Thirsties so far. They are easy to use and do a pretty good job of keeping leaks in their place (ie. not leaking!). We have had a few leaks, but I'm still trying to figure out the best fit for the gussets to stay close. I like the adjustable height of the diaper, although we do have some saggy pants going on. I can't get it to fit *just* right, but it's getting better, and I'm sure that very soon we'll have it down. For some reason, I'm diapering-impaired, but after ten months, I'm starting to get the knack of it.

Niko's rash is all but gone - whether or not the cloth diapering is helping is debatable, but it has definitely saved two shopping bags full of disposable nappies from making their way into my trash (we have a half bag... he's gone through 4-5 since Thursday). I'd say we're well on our way to saving a bunch more from leaving the house (and more money from leaving my debit card!). Despite the initial investment of about $30 for 2 covers (plus my one from Amazon), it's well worth it. I would have spent $30 for 3 weeks of diapers anyways. Even if I can cut down from 35 diapers a week to say 7, I'm saving oodles, which is great for me and even better for my municipality's landfill.

Thirsties On! Excellent!

What are your favorite cloth diapering solutions? Tell me about it in the comments or on the FaceBook!

What of It?

To quote the exquisitely wise Forrest Gump, "My mama always said, 'You've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.'"

Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

To round it out, a Mr. Churchill once said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

This is where I am at right now.

"Good night, and Good Luck." Edward R. Murrow

Thirsty for Thirsties!

*Disclaimer: This post is in no way a compensated review for Thirsties. Included in the post is a link to Thirsties Thursday Giveaway #2. This post was written as an update to my cloth diapering adventure and as a way to share the giveaway, allowing me to add more entries for myself. Thanks for reading! Hopefully you'll enter the giveaway, too!

True to my previous statement, we're making the switch to full time cloth diapering (with a little allowance for disposables while we're out or while Niko's at my mom's house or whatevs). On Tuesday, I ordered two Thirsties Duo Wrap Diaper Covers, one in Meadow and one in Honeydew, from diapers.com (about $28, including shipping). We've been using gDiapers since Niko was born, part time (when I was home) - unfortunately, I am less than enamored with them and decided if I'm moving to full-time cloth, I need something easier for me and, more importantly, easier for the sitters. Hence, I purchased a couple of Thirsties.

No pants? No problem!

My friend Meagan, of Nurturing Nature Doula Services & Blog, has been using Thirsties for about a kajillion years now (okay, like three...) on both of her children (one about to turn three, one teetering in at 11 months) and swears by them. I took that into consideration when making my purchase, especially after having seen how easy they are to use and how well they have held up for her. It works just like a regular diaper! Almost... I slapped one on Niko last night before he went to my mom's house - no more difficult than any other diaper change, I'm happy to report.

Getting ready to fill his "Thirstie" Diaper!

We're using Gerber Birdseye Prefolds and Snappis fasteners. (I know.. shame on me for using Gerber diapers... but unfortunately... well... it's what I have) They have held up reasonably well. I wash my cloths (which also double as burp rags, spill rags, etc.) with a homemade mix of FelsNaphtha, washing soda, baking soda, borax, oxyclean, and vinegar and always throw a full Downy Ball of white vinegar in for the rinse cycle. My clothes line is going up this weekend, and I'll start drying them outside, to boot, so the sun can work some bleaching and fresh magic.

HoneyDew! That's water... not pi-dribbles.

Hopefully this works out well, especially taking into account my sitters' dismay for additional work. I think they'll all be pleasantly surprised at how easy the Thirsties system works. I'm waiting on any complaints from my mother from night 1.

Here's my list of things to do still...

... find cloth diaper-safe creams (Thanks for The Gnome's Mom for posting this list earlier this week!)

... order more Snappis. Right now I only have two infant-sized, which are starting to look a little tight... Up a size!

... Share Thirsties' Thirsties Thursday Giveaway! Enter to win Two Thirsties Duo Wrap Diapers in your choice of Size & Pattern! There are six easy ways to enter (did I mention this post may include one of them?) for up to 10 entries in the drawing. All entries must be submitted by June 15, 2011, and a winner will be drawn on Sunday, June 19, 2011, and posted to Thirsties' Blog.

Comfortable enough with no bulkiness - Perfect for Mischief Making!

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Got some cloth-diapering tips for me? Let me know about them in the comments or on the FaceBook.

And We Have...

A little crabby... and in a disposable nappy... Bleh.

Niko's visit went well this afternoon. He has a yeast diaper rash and has been prescribed a Nystatin cream to be applied topically at each change for the next week or so. I need to watch it for spreading but it's very likely it will clear up pretty quickly and then it's just watching what he eats and making sure he's 100% clean and dry, especially in this heat (94 tomorrow!).I'll keep applying diaper rash ointment, but the Nystatin should clear it up a-okay.

As far as his fever goes, his ears are clear. Most likely it's a "Summer Virus" according to the doctor, with Norwalk virus being a prime suspect. He doesn't have any lesions on any extremeties, so Hand, Foot & Mouth isn't probable, but I'm still keeping an eye out for developing symptoms. There's not a lot to be done for viral infection - antibiotics obviously aren't for viruses (they're for bacteria...) and very few viral maladies have any sort of anti-viral available. I've been instructed to monitor his fever, help alleviate it with Infant Tylenol, cool baths, and minimal clothing, and watch for worsening or development of other symptoms (lesions, rash, disorientation, dehydration, diarrhoea). He needs to stay hydrated, too, which he's been doing a great job doing - drinking lots of water and nursing like crazy. I'm laying light on the Tylenol since fevers are immunological responses, and I'd rather dose low and let a low to moderate fever run rather than interrupt his learning immune system. If it spikes up to or above 103 again, I'll call and see what to do, but for now, we're sitting between 100 and 101, and Niko isn't too crabby.

I'm glad that's taken care of and that my baby is pretty well okay. On a good note, he gained about 12 ounces in the last three weeks, bringing him up to a whopping 17 lbs 12 oz at just shy of 10 months. On a not as good note, my dryer is dead.

Another day...

How's your luck lately? Tell me about it! Check me out on the FaceBook, too!

It finally happened...

We've had a good run...

We hit another milestone - For the first time in ten months, my baby is sick. Okay, not the very first time - he had a bout of congestion and coughing while I had bronchitis earlier this - but the first time I had to call the answering service and speak to a doctor after-hours. I'm not much of a Nervous Nancy Ostrich mother, but there's always a first, and this is just mine...

Niko had a little bit of diaper rash over the weekend - nothing out of the ordinary, a few red patches. I put on his Aveeno diaper rash cream as usual and let it go. We played outside all day Sunday (with plenty of water and a good amount of shade thrown in), and he felt a little warm Sunday night, which I attributed to getting some sun. My skin stays warm for days after a good dose of sunshine, so I didn't think anything of it.  He appears to have similar skin to mine, so I thought it was normal and okay.

Yesterday (Monday) morning, I noticed he still had a little bit of a rash - more Aveeno to the rescue! He didn't feel as warm as he did Sunday evening and was acting perfectly normal.

I got home from work around 17:30; he pooped shortly thereafter and I changed him to find... OHMIGOD WHAT IS THAT?!

From the top of his thigh into the crease and onto his little scrots was a hideous, puckered, scaly, blistery, hot rash. I washed it thoroughly and slathered on some (more) Aveeno and stuck him in a cloth diaper. Maybe something in the disposables was irritating him? Maybe he went too long with a poop in his  pants? I don't know...

I changed him again an hour or so later, and he felt so hot. I kissed his forehead and almost got second degree burns! I took his temperature - first under the arm... 101.7 - Okay, not awful, a little warm. Then I checked rectally... 102.6. Eh, getting up there... I stripped him and let him chill out. I checked again in an hour, and he was up to 102.8. "I guess I should call," I thought, after running the scenario by my mom and my BFF.

I got a prompt call back after calling the answering service - "Give him 1.2 mLs of Infant Tylenol and clean and cover the area with diaper rash cream." It took a while for her to spit out the 1.2 mLs of Tylenol thing... "The dropper... it has two lines... like.... 0.4 and 0.8.... give him one full at 0.8 and one half at 0.4" "1.2 mLs?" "Um... Yeah"

He loved the Tylenol (it was GROSS!) and downed it like a champ. I nursed him to sleep and threw down a chux pad in his crib with a receiving blanket on top for him to sleep on. I let him sleep naked until he woke up at 3 and then brought him into my room, where it was considerably cooler. I checked his temperature again - 99.7 (improvement!) and threw on a cloth diaper, and I finally was able to sleep.

We have an appointment this afternoon - I have to drive to a little bit of a further office because the only doctor at his regular office is Mr. Retract-Babies-Penises (which I told a guy at work about, who then berated me for leaving my son intact... "You better teach him how to clean it. It gets filthy. He'll probably have to have it done later anyways." "Not if it doesn't get retracted too early, which causes scarring, which can lead to an unnecessary circumcision and other problems later.") I'm preemptively diagnosing this as a yeast infection exacerbated by the heat, with a suspected ear infection as the culprit of the fever. C'est la vie... Lemons, anyone?

A True Trooper... (like his bicycle helmet?)

Do you have natural remedies for yeast or ear infections? Fill me in! How long were you able to go without a "Freak Out - My Baby is Sick" moment? Share in the comments or on the FaceBook.

Lemonade?

As the saying goes, "When life hands you lemons... make lemonade."

I've got about a lifetime supply of lemonade right now. I'm not sure I need anymore lemons; but thanks for thinking of me, Life!

I've been busy as of late... neglecting my blog, staying off of FaceBook (not totally, but considerably), and spending a lot of time in the nondigital world. I'm frustrated, tired, lonely... My job is... my job, still... My car is becoming a never-ending source of "what's wrong now" and "how much for that." I really just need one more year out of the ol' girl but will gladly take two. The weather has been unappealing - going from frigid to sweltering in sometimes less than 12 hours... I either overwater my garden or don't give it enough... Money is as money always has been... tight.

But...

Summer is here! My gardens are planted, I have some outdoor seating (kind of), and the nights are nice enough that a cool beer can be enjoyed in the brand of silence only suburbia can provide. I'm hoping to start reconnecting with some friends lost to mutual neglect and to try to mend some off-kilter friendships which hopefully remain salvageable. I'm starting to plan for Niko's first birthday. I know, I know... I have two and a half months, but surely those short 10 weeks will creep up on me just like the last 10 months have... quickly!

I'm hoping for some kicker summer plans but really doubt any will happen. I'll settle for a good harvest from my meager gardens, a walking baby before the end of summer, and maybe one trip out of the Heart of it All and into the great yonder MidWest. We'll see...

For now, I'm signing out with no promises of how soon I'll have anything to say again. It's just busy like that, and I'm feeling bleak.

Obligatory Cute Picture of Das Schatz!

How are you feeling? What's shaking? Share in the comments or on the FaceBook.